Man Accused of Impersonating President Ruto on X Released on Bail

Titus Wekesa Sifuna, the X (formerly Twitter) user accused of impersonating President William Ruto and publishing derogatory content targeting the Head of State and his family, has been released on a cash bail of Ksh.100,000 or an alternative bond of Ksh.1 million.

Sifuna was initially arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts earlier this week under a miscellaneous application. According to court documents, he operated an X account under the handle @5thethief with the username “I must go,” through which he allegedly shared inflammatory remarks and altered images that targeted President Ruto and members of his family.

The prosecution told the court that Sifuna’s posts sparked widespread outrage on social media and were deemed harmful to national peace and cohesion. “The content of the X account poses a serious threat to the country’s reputation, as the President is a symbol of national unity and should be respected and honoured by all,” the prosecutor stated.

Authorities also claimed that Sifuna manipulated the account’s profile picture to feature an image resembling President Ruto, an act they argue was deceptive and had the potential to mislead the public.

The court was informed that some of the shared content amounted to hate speech and had the potential to incite ethnic divisions among Kenyan citizens. The prosecution further argued that the nature of the posts, including both written messages and edited images, posed a danger to public order.

In their submissions, the prosecution requested that Sifuna be held for a period of seven days to allow investigators to complete ongoing inquiries. However, the court ruled in favor of bail, paving the way for the accused’s release under the stated conditions.

Investigations into the case are still underway as authorities seek to determine the full extent of the impersonation and any broader impact it may have had.